


When You Least Expect It

by napoleonboneaparte



Series: Across the Pond [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - British, Boys Kissing, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 13:18:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7894120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/napoleonboneaparte/pseuds/napoleonboneaparte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a sliver of a second, Nico trembled. He held on to Jason, sighing deeply into his shirt. Then, Jason felt Nico relaxing in his arms. Under his touch, the muscles in Nico’s back tensed up briefly only to relax immediately. There was a little voice in Jason’s head whispering that maybe Nico saw him as more than just a friend, that perhaps, there were more hidden, more primal feelings at play. The desire to expand their relationship to something more than just mere comradeship. Perhaps, a more intimate feeling? Jason tried to dismiss the thought, but it just kept lingering.</p><p>The stationmaster’s whistle blew for the final time as the train prepared to leave. Jason was reluctant to leave, but what choice did he have? Carefully pushing Nico away, he took up his bags. It was time to go. Nico stared at him, watching him carefully. Jason knew the look that was written on his face. It was a look that gave away the fact that Nico was clearly up to something. With one foot and his luggage on the train, Jason gave one last doleful look back at Nico. Nothing on earth could have given him a heads-up of what was to come next.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When You Least Expect It

“I’ll miss you.”

Jason’s face lit up rather visibly as soon as a very red-faced Nico mumbled out those words. It was quite encouraging to know that Nico actually did acknowledge him as a friend. It was quite a contrast, especially with his first days of contact with the shy and quiet Italian boy. During those times, he was the one who started all their conversations, that is if they could even be called conversations, since Nico barely chipped in or spoke a word for that matter. They had gone a long way since then though, and Jason liked it that way.

Dropping his luggage onto the station platform, Jason ruffled Nico’s already messy head of hair, much to the latter’s chagrin. “Oh, come on now. I’ll only be back in the States for what, a month? You can count on me being here next year anyway.”

Nico shot daggers at Jason despite the shy smile on his face as he attempted to push Jason’s hand away from his head. “You’d better. If you aren’t back here by New Year’s Day, you’ll be sorry.”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

“Never,” said Nico. His eyes met Jason’s for a moment, but a moment was all that was needed for him to silently express his appreciation of Jason’s constant and occasionally, brutal honesty.

Jason noticed the lights of a train in the distance, its screeching brakes and honking horn announcing its impending arrival. “Do you think you’ll be able to keep out of trouble while I’m gone?”

Nico snorted in annoyance. He had a very strong opinion about Bryce Lawrence, and he didn’t hold his tormenter and bully very highly. “I don’t need a nanny,” he growled. “And I don’t always need a knight in shining armour riding across the fields to rescue me. I’m not a damsel in distress, Jason.”

“I know you’re not. I’m just saying that you don’t have to keep fighting these battles all by yourself.”

His eyes narrowing, Nico directed his glare at the concrete ground. Just the mention of Bryce was enough to leave a bitter taste in Jason’s mouth, but for Nico, it was genuinely far worse. “Why do you even care? They’re my battles, not yours.”

Jason said nothing for a moment. An answer was laying on the tip of his tongue, about to roll off at any moment. The only thing stopping it from doing just that was the possibility that Nico might take it the wrong way. It sounded odd, cheesy, cliché and in some ways, insulting and only God could help him if Nico took it the wrong way. An angry Nico was a terrifying Nico. Still, an answer was needed, and only that answer could Jason provide.

“It’s not your battles that I care about, it’s you.”

Nico raised his head. The wounded look in his eyes was the same one that was omnipresent whenever Jason asked about the bruises on his arms and the occasional black eye. Yet, there was also a lively spark behind them. He looked as though he was about to say something but just then, the roar of the train pulling in stormed through the air. Their time was up.

Something in the more tender regions of Jason’s heart did a little jig when he approached Nico for the last time of the year. Nico’s eyes stared up at him, wide-eyed and innocent, those liquid brown eyes almost seemingly puppy-like. If there was anything that he could be certain about, it was that he was going to miss Nico’s company. As if acting on instinct, Jason pulled Nico toward him. Even as the train pulled into the station, Jason surrounded Nico’s lean body with his strong arms, keeping him in a tight but warm embrace. He didn’t care about the curious onlookers on the platform. He was just saying goodbye to his classmate and best friend.

“Take care of yourself, okay?” Jason said softly and gently, cradling Nico’s head in his chest. “I will just be gone for a month anyway, and I’m always a call away.”

For a sliver of a second, Nico trembled. He held on to Jason, sighing deeply into his shirt. Then, Jason felt Nico relaxing in his arms. Under his touch, the muscles in Nico’s back tensed up briefly only to relax immediately. There was a little voice in Jason’s head whispering that maybe Nico saw him as more than just a friend, that perhaps, there were more hidden, more primal feelings at play. The desire to expand their relationship to something more than just mere comradeship. Perhaps, a more intimate feeling? Jason tried to dismiss the thought, but it just kept lingering.

The stationmaster’s whistle blew for the final time as the train prepared to leave. Jason was reluctant to leave, but what choice did he have? Carefully pushing Nico away, he took up his bags. It was time to go. Nico stared at him, watching him carefully. Jason knew the look that was written on his face. It was a look that gave away the fact that Nico was clearly up to something. With one foot and his luggage on the train, Jason gave one last doleful look back at Nico. Nothing on earth could have given him a heads-up of what was to come next.

Nico looked at him like he was staring into the Sun.

He stepped forward, placed his arms around Jason’s neck.

He tilted his head to one side.

He leaned forward and closed his eyes.

And he kissed him.

At first, it was just a lingering touch of the lips, nothing more than a quick brush, but the closer the time of departure approached; the more the two boys took their time. Jason realised that he was nibbling playfully at Nico’s warm lips. Nico may have initiated this romantic gesture, but Jason, as always, was taking charge. They were so soft and beautiful, just like their owner. Kissing, sucking, nibbling, Jason’s first thought had been to push Nico away, say that he wasn’t gay or quip, “no homo” or something of the sort. He didn’t do anything. Surprise and apprehension flew out of the window when Jason decided to let things go their way. Threading his fingers through Nico’s locks, he realised that it was not only Nico who was being driven by emotion that moment. It was him too.

The train started to move and Jason cursed his fate when Nico broke the kiss and darted out of the way of the closing doors. Their gazes met for the last time of the year, this time with Nico smiling sweetly with an obvious blush and Jason staring back at him, wide-eyed like a goldfish, enchanted by the kiss that he just received from his best friend. He stumbled to his seat and roughly sat down. There, he would spend the rest of his journey to the airport in a stunned, dazed silence, just gazing out at the snowflakes gently falling in the cold winter evening. There, he would think about nothing but the kiss that he had just received. The kiss so intense that he couldn’t remember and couldn’t give a damn about who and where he was, but there was one thing he could not forget. The boy to whom those warm beautiful lips belonged.


End file.
